Little C: Memory of a Story
Have patience with us this week readers. We lost our grandmother yesterday and it's sent us reeling. It might take us a little while to get back on our feet and in the mean time in might mean that there are days where instead of a post you get a small apology and an IOU. We'll get back into our routine eventually, but today we are mourning the huge loss of one of the strongest most amazing people we've ever known.
My grandmother loved stories. She read hundreds of books a year and while she wouldn't always buy us the latest toy or snacks at the movie theater, she would never turn us down if we asked for a book. I read the Artimis Fowl books and the Harry Potter series only after Mimi insisted. She knew the value of getting a kid into literature.
She didn't just read stories. She wrote them as well. Christy has a collection of all these stories Mimi wrote about growing up in depression era Indiana. They're all told third person about a little girl called "Shadow" by her mother. They're wonderful stories, and we are very lucky to have them. Some people know very little about their grandparents, let alone what they were like as kids. But we have this window into Mimi's past.
She told great stories too. Not too much style, but a ton of detail. She had a great memory for sensory details. How the air felt or smelled, when the fabric of a dress felt like. Her stories always felt so real, like they were able to black out the rest of the world and pull me in to them. I loved hearing her tell me about standing on the steps to her school when she found out that WWII was over, or how our grandfather had stolen flowers out of his neighbors garden to give her when they were first dating. She had a gift for stories. I hope I got even a fraction of that gift.
I believe that line from Doctor Who that says "We are all stories in the end." I believe that our actions and words may live on in fiction or prose far longer than any physical legacy we would leave. If I have kids, my children will never get to sit in Mimi's lap and listen to her talk the way I did. But they will get to know her through her stories. They will know that one of the greatest sources of strength I have came from a woman who used to be called Shadow.
The gift my Mimi gave to me, is one of the best I have to offer the world.
We love you Mimi,
Little C
She made that dress by hand. Mom says she was very popular at the socials
My grandmother loved stories. She read hundreds of books a year and while she wouldn't always buy us the latest toy or snacks at the movie theater, she would never turn us down if we asked for a book. I read the Artimis Fowl books and the Harry Potter series only after Mimi insisted. She knew the value of getting a kid into literature.
Mimi and our mom
She didn't just read stories. She wrote them as well. Christy has a collection of all these stories Mimi wrote about growing up in depression era Indiana. They're all told third person about a little girl called "Shadow" by her mother. They're wonderful stories, and we are very lucky to have them. Some people know very little about their grandparents, let alone what they were like as kids. But we have this window into Mimi's past.
She told great stories too. Not too much style, but a ton of detail. She had a great memory for sensory details. How the air felt or smelled, when the fabric of a dress felt like. Her stories always felt so real, like they were able to black out the rest of the world and pull me in to them. I loved hearing her tell me about standing on the steps to her school when she found out that WWII was over, or how our grandfather had stolen flowers out of his neighbors garden to give her when they were first dating. She had a gift for stories. I hope I got even a fraction of that gift.
At her wedding to my grandfather
I believe that line from Doctor Who that says "We are all stories in the end." I believe that our actions and words may live on in fiction or prose far longer than any physical legacy we would leave. If I have kids, my children will never get to sit in Mimi's lap and listen to her talk the way I did. But they will get to know her through her stories. They will know that one of the greatest sources of strength I have came from a woman who used to be called Shadow.
Shadow at about age 4
The gift my Mimi gave to me, is one of the best I have to offer the world.
We love you Mimi,
Little C
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